Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The other day I went to the website for the school system that we live in. Alex is a senior, so I occasionally check the site to see if there's anything new I should know about.

Up popped a Dress Code Survey. I had a few minutes, so I thought "what the heck" and began taking it.

There were statements, and I was to check one of four options:

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

The statements were about things having to do with what the kids look like when they attend school, as well as enforcement policies for the dress code.

I was breezing right through this, but then got to this one:

17. Underwear and under garments should not be exposed at any time while at school.

Excuse me??

What does it say about the current state of things when we have to even INCLUDE this kind of statement in a survey about dress codes?

If I were a high school teacher I would absolutely NOT want to see a girl's bra or the top of her thong sticking out above her jeans, pants, or shorts. I would NOT want to see the tops of a guy's briefs or boxers when his pants are riding too low.

I tend to have a problem with any school having a well-defined dress code in place and it NOT being enforced. Why have it if you're not going to enforce it?

I guess now everyone has to be careful so that we don't infringe on anyone's rights or take away their freedom of expression.

Give me a break.

A student is in school for less than 8 hours a day. That means that they have a little over 16 hours a day in which they can express themselves and not have their rights violated.

One of the jobs of a school is to teach responsibility and accountability, and if that means telling students IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS what they CAN and CANNOT wear, then so be it. In my opinion, that's the school's job. The students know upfront that if they wear something that violates the dress code, then they will be held accountable for their poor choice.

5
comments:

Wow Cindi you obviously teach in an elementary school and live in a fairly rural area. We have dress codes but they are not adhered to by many of the kids because the administration has no gonads when the crazy parents come screaming into the school because their child was sent home or made to call home to get different clothes. Of course the parent comes in dressed far worse than our dress code nightmares we see at school which is why the kid dresses as he does. Some kids won't fight you and just change, but most do. Remember too that I live in the midst of MS13 gangs from El Salvador and I have kids whose parents are dealers so they have their own fashions and gang attire. Plus the kids in my 7th grade just push the limits, today I had a girl who wore her jacket backwards zipped up the back with a petticoat (tutu) over tight leggings, two boys who insist on wearing bandanas around their neck like bank robbers, and one insisting on wearing a black fingerless glove (needless to say I told them they looked stupid but I guess that was the look they were going for :o). But really the clothes aren't as big of a problem as we are having with sexting in the 5, 6 and 7 grades. Do you have sexting in your elementary school? They take naked photos of themselves or their private parts or someone else's private parts and send them to each other in text messages and pass them around school. Oh yea, the kids all have cell phones and are allowed to keep them on them thanks to 911 and Columbine because parents insist on being able to reach their children, and even if we watch for them not to use them in class there are bathroom stalls, etc. Hope you enjoyed my comments, I love when you spur me to complain :o) about schools.

Some years ago, our school district asked a group of parents to come in for a forum and weigh in on whether we should switch to uniforms. Frankly, I was all for it. But the main argument against was the "freedom of expression" thing. For my money, if the uniform basics are nice looking (not some ugly plaid, like I had to wear in grade school), it takes the pressure off the kids who don't have as much money to spend on their wardrobe. It levels the playing field.

It seems sad that the school district has to mandate "no underwear showing." Hope they don't start giving out detentions when some poor kid's bra strap slips.

Liberalism and multi-culturalism are ruining our country as well as our schools. As a previous poster stated, she is having to deal with MS-13 from El Salvador?? Why???? Why is this allowed to happen??? Why aren't these people deported?? WTH has happened to this country in just the last 21 years?? Damn I miss President Reagan. Underwear showing in schools?? Ha!!! Good ole Mr.Eckert and his "Board of education" would've taken care of this problem. Off my box too Cindi.

Gosh, I remember when we girls could not wear pants to school -- just under our dresses IF it was cold weather/snowing. . . BUT we had to take the pants off when we arrived at school and put back on and take off at recess. Talk about discrimination!

I hate uniforms. I had to wear ugly uniforms for high school when I went to boarding school.

Our school was also thinking about going for uniforms. I had mixed feelings on it ~ the cost was one thing (since you'd then have to buy uniforms AND still buy "normal" clothes for when the kids got home.)

Our school instead went with an extremely strict dress code...and they do everything they can to enforce it. I love that they enforce it! The only thing I didn't like is that it is the same for elementary through high school. Some rules that should apply in HS seemed kind of silly for a kindergartener to have to follow.

But, at least they are enforcing the rules!

P.S. Believe it or not, the "underwear rule" is in our school dress code. Unbelieveable that it even has to be addressed!